Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure relates to a cleaner, and more particularly, to a vacuum cleaner.
Background
A vacuum cleaner may be defined as an apparatus provided therein with a fan motor to suction in external air and dust to filter out dust. The vacuum cleaner is usually called a cleaner.
Cleaners are generally classified into canister vacuum cleaners, in which the body and the suction nozzle are connected to each other by an extension tube, and an upright cleaner, in which the body is directly connected to the suction nozzle.
As a portable cleaner, a hand-held type cleaner, in which the entire cleaner body is held by a user, is widely used.
In recent years, bedding cleaners capable of cleaning bedding have come into use along with increase in standard of living. The bedding cleaner is also a hand-held cleaner, but it may be provided with a vibration plate to apply vibration to the bedding, unlike typical hand-held cleaners.
The hand-held cleaner is generally designed to easily clean a portion of an object. Accordingly, the user may need not to take uncomfortable pose to handle the hand-held vacuum cleaner. This is also the case of the canister vacuum cleaner and the upright vacuum cleaner, which allow the user to perform cleaning without bending at the waist.
When the user uses the bedding cleaner to clean bedding, a substantial amount of time is generally required to clean the entire bedding. Accordingly, inconvenience resulting from the pose the user takes to perform cleaning may be a problem.
With reference to FIGS. 1 to 3, a detailed description will be given of a conventional cleaner, particularly of a bedding cleaner.
The bedding cleaner 1 may include an upper body 2, a handle 3, a nozzle body 5, and a lower body 4. The nozzle body 5 is arranged in parallel with the ground, particularly with the bedding, and cleaning of the bedding is performed through the nozzle body 4.
The nozzle body 5 may be provided with a nozzle 6 to draw in the external air, a vibration plate 7, and an agitator 8. The vibration plate 7 applies vibration to the bedding to lift dust from the bedding, and the agitator 8 sweeps the dust on the surface of the bedding. Accordingly, through operation of the vibration plate 7 and the agitator 8, the bedding is more effectively cleaned.
The lower body 4 extends rearward from the nozzle body 5 to be substantially parallel to the ground. The body of the cleaner may be formed by coupling the upper body 2 to the upper portions of the lower body 4 and the nozzle body 5.
The lower body 4 is provided with a roller 9 to support the cleaner on the ground. By the roller 9 and the agitator 8, the cleaner may be substantially supported on the ground or the bedding.
As shown in FIG. 3, the user holds the handle 3 and moves the cleaner back and forth to clean the bedding.
However, the conventional bedding cleaner is not tall, as seen in FIG. 3. Accordingly, the user needs to bend at the waist for a long time to clean the bedding.
In addition, due to difference in position between the cleaner the upper body 2 and the handle 3, applying force to the ground or the bedding is not easy. During cleaning, the user applies force only forward and rearward, and thus the nozzle body 5 may not closely contact the ground or the bedding. Thereby, cleaning may not be performed effectively since vibration is not sufficiently applied to the bedding.
To increase the height of the cleaner, the position of the handle 3 may be raised. However, in this case, the upper body 2 of the cleaner is elongated in the front-back direction, and therefore the shape of the body 2 may not match the raised shape of the handle 3. Thereby, the overall external appearance of the cleaner may not be elegant since the handle 3 is raised excessively high, compared to the upper body 2 of the cleaner.
Moreover, the upper body 2 and the handle 3 are separately provided and connected to each other. Accordingly, increasing the height of the handle 3 increases the entire size of the outer shape of the cleaner, resulting in inconvenience in handling and storing of the cleaner.
To ensure stable movement, the center of gravity of the cleaner is positioned between the agitator 8 and the roller 9. However, since the center of gravity of the cleaner is too close to the ground, the distance of moment from the center of gravity to the force applied to the handle 3 to move the cleaner may increase. For this reason, the nozzle body 5 may not closely contact the ground or the bedding, as discussed above.
In addition, since the lower body 4 and the nozzle body 5 are horizontally arranged to correspond to the ground, travel of the cleaner for cleaning may not be easy. This is because a section of the cleaner that is not directly related to cleaning becomes close to the ground. In other words, this arrangement may not facilitate increase in the area of the cleaning region, i.e., the area of the nozzle body 5. Accordingly, a travel distance per hour for effective cleaning may be shortened. This may eventually result in a long cleaning time.
In the cleaner 1 shown in FIG. 3, the flow path is curved several times, resulting in high air resistance.
Air introduced through an air guide 11 first flows into a dust container 12. In the air guide 11, the air is directed upward, then rearward, and then upward again. The air introduced into the dust container 12 is discharged rearward from the dust container and introduced into a fan motor 13. After introduction into the fan motor 13, the air is discharged outside through one side of the fan motor 13 (the side directed into the paper).
Due to the structure of the flow path as above, the direction of flow of air is frequently changes while the air introduced into the cleaner is discharged outside. Accordingly, noise increases and smooth cleaning may not be performed. In addition, additional constituents may be further provided to shield the noise, and thus the structure of the fan motor chamber to accommodate the fan motor may become complex.
FIG. 4 shows a vibration system of a conventional cleaner to drive the vibration plate 7 shown in FIG. 2.
When the motor 14 rotates, the produced rotational force is transferred to a reduction gear 16 via a belt 15. Accordingly, rotation of the motor does not produce vibration.
Specifically, torque is enhanced by the belt 15, and vibration is produced by an eccentric bearing 17. The produced vibration is transferred to the vibration plate 7 via a connection member 18. The connection member 18 is elastically supported by the nozzle body 5 through an elastic member 19. Accordingly, a complex structure of connection between the motor 14 and the vibration plate 7 may be produced.
Such a connection structure may make the air flow path in the suction nozzle part complex. In addition, due to many complex constituents, durability of the cleaner may be degraded. Since a structure for holding the eccentric bearing 17 in addition to the structure for fixing of the motor is added, manufacture of the cleaner may become complex.
Therefore, a cleaner having a vibration system which may be easily implemented and enhance durability, reliability and vibration effects may need to be provided.